Balloon Fiesta 2014

There is only one thing that can make a New Mexican joyfully jump out of bed well before the sun comes up during the first week of October. To wait in the only known 5am traffic jam, To freeze while you wait for the sun to come up. To wander the field with your coffee and green chile breakfast burrito while your 3 year old asks where the balloons are at least 12 times a minute. My friends, this is the stuff Fall in New Mexico is made of. And if you ever find yourself in Albuquerque the first week of October, going to the Balloon Fiesta is a MUST. Even if you have don't have any desire to travel to New Mexico, or if you weren't even aware that New Mexico was a real place, and in fact part of the United States until reading this, you still MUST go!

Some of the childhood memories that stick out to me the most, are the ones where my parents woke us up early, bundled us up, and drove us to Balloon Fiesta Park. I remember sitting on the field drinking my hot chocolate, and waiting in sheer anticipation of daylight, when the sky would fill up with hundreds (not even exaggerating) of hot air balloons. There is nothing more magical than this. Nothing. Even as an adult, it takes me right back to the land of magic when I see the sky filled with balloons. From our new house, I got a spectacular view of the colorful sky every morning this past week. And I totally just about peed my pants with excitement when a balloon flew right over my house! I went giddy fan girl on that balloon, just FYI. Haha.

Because pictures just sometimes don't tell the whole experience, I decided to vlog our morning for memories.


Since the Balloon Fiesta is totally in the hands of the weather, the day we went, it was too windy for the balloons to fly. So here is an idea of why all of us New Mexicans can't get enough!

This Man

This man.
My love.
My husband.
The father to my children.

I could go on and on over the ways I love him. He is a great cook. He is a great partner. He helps me around the house. I can be the absolute goofball I am around him. He is super sexy.

And he is a terrific father. 

There are two little girls in this world who adore him. There are two little girls in this world who are lucky to have him. Entering into this adventure of parenting with very little knowledge of babies and raising children, and despite not having a father present, he is completely and utterly succeeding in being a great father.

While I've worked nights over the years, he has learned how to do a nighttime routine with a three year old and a baby all by himself. During those nights, he has woken up for every nighttime feeding and diaper change. Without complaint.

After working long days, he comes home and get down on all fours and play "Unicorn" with Claire. He lets me sleep in on Saturdays after I work. He takes Claire in the garage with him to "help" him. And she loves it. He taught Claire the alphabet at bath time, and speaking of bath time, he has probably given about 80% of the baths in this house.

He cuddles. He loves. He jokes. He makes us all laugh. These little girls absolutely adore their Daddy!

I got lucky in the partner department, but even more so, these girls got lucky in the Daddy department!

Happy Father's Day, Daniel!

A Little Bit of Chaos, and A Little Bit of Joy

"Here! Just. Paint. Already!" I found myself saying forcefully as I laid the third piece of paper in front of Claire. I sighed. She cried.

"No! The yellow one! Leave me alone!" 

The tantrums these days. The defiance. The attitude. And the stubbornness. They leave me exhausted at the end of the day. And it's the mental form of exhaustion, not so much the physical. Raising a 3 year old is not for the faint of heart.

The truth? I was 5 stages past exhausted. My patience was next to nothing. It's the kind of day where all you want is for Daddy to get home from work and retreat to a hot bubble bath. Except for that Daddy was home from work sick that day. And I was scheduled to work that night. No rest happening that night. 

So with Claire finally okay with her paper choice, and painting to her hearts content, I brewed a pot of coffee, poured myself a cup, and settled on the couch next to Hannah in her bouncer toy. 

The very second my feet went up on the couch, I hear a cry and a scream of "Moooommmmmmmmyyyyy" from the kitchen. I ignore it for a second, hoping Claire would go back to painting.

"Mommmmyyyyy, I want different paints!"

After explaining that these were the only paints we had, another tantrum was thrown. Paint water was spilled. And time out was had. After that tantrum was finally under control, I retreated to my spot on the couch. The cup of coffee was already cold, and as soon as I had taken that sip to find out, Hannah was restless and crying. 

Nope, no rest. All I could think was "I just want to be still for one second today!" 

I finally retreated up to my room to get ready for work. Truthfully, it's a little exciting to leave for work when you are having a rough day with the kids. I'm sure every working mom knows that feeling! I put my feet up on my bed for the few minutes of stillness I craved all day and found this quote in my Instagram feed:

"The glory of motherhood comes camouflaged in so much chaos" 

-Lisa Jo Baker

Y'all, motherhood is exhausting. I'd be completely lying if I said that raising two little girls wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done. It challenges me and pushes me to the brink every single day. There is so much chaos every single day. The above is just a snippet of my frustrations and exhaustion.

But there is also so much joy. The big huge joys like watching your child's face on Christmas morning. But there are also the smaller joys that I'm so guilty of overlooking everyday, because of the chaos.

If I wasn't so focused on having those moments to myself on the couch, I might have realized what a great painter Claire is turning into. She no longer paints like a toddler, but she is starting to paint within the lines. 

If the chaos wasn't at the forefront of my feelings, I would have relished in the giggles and laughs that Hannah had for the first time in hours after her fever finally broke. But instead, I was yelling at my 3 year old out of frustrations, sighing at a baby who needed attention, and cursing at a cold cup of coffee.

Find the joy in the chaos, my friends. It helped turn my mood around, and changed my day for the better. Said tantrums still happened every 5 minute until I left for work, but I had a smile on my face and a little more patience. 

And after all, who couldn't use a little more patience? 

The Day That I Had Enough

I've never been one to care where my food comes from. Or if its organic. Or even if it's good for me. Let's be honest, bad food tastes soooo good. You add that with the fact that food is my vice, and I eat just about every feeling I've had, you get the perfect recipe for weight gain! (Gasp! You mean my mom body doesn't work the same as my high school dancer body?) For the past 3 plus years, I've been either pregnant or breastfeeding, and completely used it as my excuse to eat whatever and as much as my heart desired. (The funny thing is that my cardiovascular system actually didn't ask to eat all of those cheeseburgers! Haha nurse joke.)

Fast forward to the part where I have a 3 year old. Now, she does love her veggies, but girl LOVES her sweets. And her salties. Now I want my child to eat healthy, but I just am not the kind of mom who withholds anything non-healthy from my kids. Long story short, my eating habits are rubbing off on said 3 year old.

Today, we went to Target. Claire was not in the best mood to start with, and I just wanted to rush and get everything I needed. I'll spare y'all some of the gory details, but what ensued was mass choas and tantrums over cookies. And marshmallows. And the cotton balls I bought that she thought were marshmallows. We passed the toy section, and not a single tear was shed over the toys we weren't buying. Nope, it was the junk food we weren't buying that made the tears and screams come.

I looked down and saw myself. Wearing skinny jeans that don't look so skinny. The only reason my muffin top wasn't pouring over, was because of the Spanx I had managed to wrangle myself into earlier. (Note to self: You can't keep blaming it on postpartum baby weight when said baby is almost 10 months old!) I'm tired of eating too much junk. I am tired of my children eating too much junk. And I'm tired of wearing Spanx all of the time.

So today, I have decided I have had enough. I am going to be fit. I am going to make healthier choices. And I am going to wear my jeans again without my Spanx underneath!

Watch out world! I might even do a few squats too!

Our First Road Trip: Part 2

One of my favorite parts of this trip was taking a walk down memory lane. I took my husband and girls to see the NMSU campus. This little school was where I spent the first 2.5 years of my first adult years. Where I learned about who I was, and who I wanted to become. I have always loved this campus and it was so awesome to show it to my loves!

The best part of the campus tour? Seeing the sorority house that I called home for 5 semesters. Many hours were spent here laughing, studying, eating, and joking.

Nostalgia is a funny, funny thing. It makes you miss the days that were, yet makes you so grateful to be where you are now. 

Our First Road Trip: Part 1

"Today's little moments become tomorrow's precious memories."

Lately, this quote has resonated with me. My Type-A, perfectionist personality has made it too easy to be a slave to my To-Do list, and too hard to focus on the things that really matter. Like making memories with my girls. This past weekend, we took our first road trip with our girls in hopes of changing that. 

We started small. Only a three hour drive one way, with stops along the way every hour, and one night at a hotel. Since this was our first time doing anything like this, the voice in the back of my head kept bothering me with worries.

What if they scream the whole way there?

What if they don't sleep easily in the hotel?

What if Claire pees through the 8 pairs of pants I packed?

None of those things matter. None of them. You know what matters? That we got away and had a wonderful, much needed weekend of breaking the monotony. Of having fun. Of giggling and laughing and enjoying family. 

And you know what? 

The girls didn't scream the whole way.

They slept soundly, as did we.

And Claire didn't even have one accident!

The lesson Mama learned this weekend was to relax, enjoy, and make memories along side my children!

PS I have at least 8 billion more pictures of our trip coming, as well as a little vlog of the drive there!

Donuts, Starbucks, and Milkshakes

My poor Claire Bear has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, which yes, is just as awful as the name sounds! I may or may have not indulged and spoiled her with sugar to "help her feel better" this week!